Windows 10: Microsoft will begin force upgrading some Windows 10 users

Microsoft has begun informing users that Windows 10 version 1903 is reaching the end of support next month and those still running the unsupported operating system will be force upgraded without their permission.

Earlier this year, Microsoft announced that Windows 10 version 1903 reaches the end of support in December and it will receive the final cumulative update on December 8. As the end of service is December 8 and it’s less than a month away, the software giant wants to make sure that users are automatically upgraded.

In the coming weeks, Microsoft will begin force upgrading those on Windows 10 version 1903 to a newer compatible version, such as version 1909. If your device is not ready for version 2004 or 20H2, you won’t be upgraded beyond version 1909.

If you’re on version 1909, you’ll be force upgraded to version 2004 in May 2021. This is because the tech giant is planning to kill off Windows 10 version 1909 in May and those still using it must upgrade.



Note that you can now bypass the upgrade block or specify the version of Windows 10 that you’d like to use by making appropriate changes to Group Policy Editor or Registry Editor.

The end of service applies only to those using Windows 10 Home and Pro. Microsoft will support Windows 10 Enterprise and Education users for another year or two.

Similarly, it will be a very gradual rollout and not everyone will be force upgraded to the newest version of Windows.


Windows 10 end of life banner

It’s also worth noting that a large number of users by all accounts are still using Windows 10 version 1903 for some reasons. The majority didn’t get upgraded to version 1909 or version 2004/20H2 due to the mysterious upgrade blocks, which were triggered by a raft of critical and minor bugs and a highly complicated rollout in general.

Later this year, Microsoft is also planning to expand the rollout of Windows 10 version 20H2, otherwise known as October 2020 Update. In the first half of 2021, another service pack style upgrade called Windows 10 21H1 will begin shipping to consumers.

Windows 10 version 21H1 will replace version 20H2 with fixes and improvements. As per reports, Microsoft is holding back the new features for the Windows 10 “Sun Valley” upgrade, which is expected to arrive in the second half of next year.

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Microsoft Hit by First Successful Windows 10 Forced Upgrade Lawsuit

Microsoft has been hit by the first successful lawsuit over its forced Windows 10 upgrade. The first of possibly many, Teri Goldstein from California, successfully sued Microsoft for $10,000 in damages and legal fees over its deceptively designed Windows 10 upgrade software, which automatically downloaded and upgraded her computer's Windows 7 installation almost without the consent of the user. She convinced the court that the upgrade made her computer slower, and that she lost business due to the upgrade process and the slowing down of her computer. Microsoft dropped its appeal and paid up.

Microsoft is heavily criticized for the way it distributes its free Windows 10 upgrade for PCs with Windows 7 and Windows 8. What started out as an optional upgrade, quickly evolved into an almost unavoidable upgrade that forces itself upon the users, through clever design of the upgrade software's user interface. Microsoft recently changed Windows 10 upgrade into a "recommended update" for Windows 7/8, making users with auto-install for recommended updates discover that their machines have been upgraded almost without their consent. Could this be the first of many successful lawsuits over this issue at least in a precedent-driven American civil justice system?





Source: The Guardian, Many Thanks to revin for the tip.

 

Microsoft to push automatic Windows 10 upgrades in 2016

"Microsoft has announced that Windows 10 will be automatically rolled out next year to all users of its older operating systems who have selected to receive updates.

Until now, users of Windows 7 and 8 have needed to register to upgrade to Windows 10. But that's about to change: soon the OS will be listed as an 'Optional Update' and -- from 2016 -- a 'recommended' update that will automatically install itself, if users have opted to receive updates in that way.*Shadedshun :shadedshu:

You can opt out of automatic updates to avoid this, but Microsoftsays that "we strongly discourage this in today’s connected world because of the constant risk of internet threats". You can also change your Windows Update settings to install critical updates but not recommended ones. Although it's still going to be possible to avoid installation, Microsoft seems quite determined for everyone to be using Windows 10 in near future.


The roll-out of reserved updates was initially staggered but, according to Microsoft, now Windows "will automatically kick off the upgrade process once you have made a reservation".

As an intermediate stage, Microsoft says that it will "soon" publish Windows 10 as an optional update, not installed by default, but accessible to all users."

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive...rade-to-be-rolled-out-automatically-next-year

 

Windows 10 Upgrade Begins Rolling Out in Waves

Microsoft began rolling out of the Windows 10 upgrade to existing users of Windows 8.1 and Windows 7. The upgrade process is handled by a "reservation system," which lets you tell Microsoft in advance that you intend to upgrade, using the Get Windows 10 (GWX) app that's been sticking out in your system-tray over the past month, which looks like the Windows logo. Once "reserved," Windows slowly fetches installation files of Windows 10, and stores them into a temporary directory. When all the installation files and drivers specific to your hardware have been downloaded, the app notifies you that the upgrade can begin at your command.

The upgrade process itself is zero-intervention, and happens much like an iOS or Android OTA upgrade. Once it's installed, you get to customize a handful things, and then you're done. GWX may notify you that your upgrade is ready to begin any time today. If you've not reserved your upgrade, you can still do so, but you may not get to upgrade just yet, maybe over the next "few weeks or months," according to Microsoft. With an estimated 350 million installations queued up for the upgrade, GWX will not be able to fetch the installation files and drivers by maxing out your Internet bandwidth. It will take its own time, as Microsoft servers shed their bandwidth load.

There doesn't appear to be a strict correlation between reservation and upgrade availability. For example, we reserved upgrades for two of our PCs around the same time. The PC with the simpler hardware, programs, and settings, finished with the upgrade, while another one is still queued up. Microsoft will formally launch Windows 10 in media events spread around the world.